Blackmail  Mates
by Rani Jashalithie
Summary: Scorpius has a proposition for Rose...interesting... My entry for the Vocabulary Challenge on HPFC. My word: Splenetic- Peevish, irritable. T for language only, but nothing you wouldn't see in the original books.
1. Chapter 1

Rose hopped on her bicycle and pedaled madly away. Living in a muggle neighborhood prevented her from perusing her broomstick freely, and she knew her mum would have a coronary if she attempted to fly in the house.

The wind blew her hair into her face and she had to stop to tie it back. The bike was her only escape on days like this, when Hugo had gone to Uncle Harry's, and her mum and dad would stop bickering only long enough to ask her, "Right, Rosie?" and then she'd never hear the end of it.

So the minute she heard the jar of jam drop, and her mum's excited shriek of "Look, Ron!" and the beginnings of her dad's rant on Bulgarians, she flew out the back door. She really didn't care if the Bulgarian team's coach fancied her mum; if he got them tickets for the World Cup, she was _definitely_ going.

She pedaled down the road to the ice cream shop where she and Al spent most of their summer holidays when they needed to escape from the madness. Rose locked her bike to a lamppost and headed inside.

There was only one other person inside the shop. Well, two really, if you counted the blue-haired cashier who had so many piercings in him that Rose was sure he'd swell if someone dropped him into the ocean.

The other person was Scorpius Malfoy.

He hadn't seen Rose yet, and she took full advantage of this. As she whirled around and pretended to be highly interested in the fridge full of ice-cream filled cupcakes, a fleeting thought crossed her mind. Maybe it wasn't Malfoy after all. Maybe it was just another skinny, scrawny bloke who bleached his hair. After all, loads of weird people came here, and compared to the cashier, bleaching one's hair was _nothing_. She decided she was overreacting. After all, why would Malfoy, of all people, come to a Muggle ice cream shop? It was absurd.

That thought fresh in her head, she walked up to the counter. The smell of fresh fruit and cold sugar mingled with the tantalizing aroma of hot fudge. Rose suddenly realized she was very hungry: a result of her skipping lunch because of her mum's preoccupation and Rose's lifelong hatred of cooking.

She asked for a large Mixee with bits of chocolate and strawberry. The cashier made it slowly and recited her total in a bored voice. After she'd paid, she scanned the tables. It was all empty, except for that one bloke-who-looked-a-hell-of-a-lot-like-Malfoy-but-wasn't-really. She sat at a table next to him, facing the opposite direction, so she could study him inconspicuously.

The boy _was_ in fact, Scorpius Malfoy. He was quietly slurping his strawberry milkshake. He knew that Rose Weasley was sitting near him. He knew she was studying him, and she thought he didn't notice. She was dead wrong. He saw that way she barely touched her Mixee, and how the tip of her tongue poked out from the corner of her mouth with the effort of doing...whatever she was doing. Spying on him, probably. Did it count as spying if the subject was very well aware of the supposed espionage?

He had come here for a very particular reason. He knew that she came here often with her cousin Al. He had been coming here for a week now, and just as he was beginning to think he had misheard the name, she showed up. He was NOT going to miss his chance. Now, or never.

Carefully, he pushed the chair across from him out with the tip of his worn sneaker. He had worn them despite his mother's strong feelings ("Scorpius! Get your feet _out_ of those horrid rags!" "Astoria, let him wear whatever he wants. We're not going anywhere." "Draco, he took those out of the rubbish bin!" "Mum, they're comfortable!")

and with the aid of his spanking new Silverstick broom, flown to Rose Weasley's neighborhood. He had nicked her address from the Headmistress' office during his first detention, when his very first prank had failed miserably (he hadn't attempting one after that) and stowed it away for the future. He was a Ravenclaw, after all. And look, here it came in handy.

Rose looked up at the sound. Her eyes strained with the effort of glancing at the bleached bloke out of the corner of her eye. _Oh, sod it, I'm going to find out if it's Malfoy or not._ She looked up, straight into the grey eyes of a smirking Scorpius Malfoy.

"Sit, Weasley." he motioned to the chair. "I even pulled it out for you the way a gentleman should."

Rose picked up her Mixee and migrated. She might as well, he was the only one here. "Oh shut up. I'm perfectly capable of pulling out my own chair." Swallowing her pride, she sat down and gave him her best annoyed look. "What?"

"I have a proposition for you." he said, leaning closer towards her. She could see the way the shadows of his lashes were more noticeable than the lashes themselves. It made her smile, for no particular reason.

Scorpius could see Rose's dark eyes, peeking out of a ginger fringe, studying him curiously. He could count every damn freckle on that ski-slope nose. He could see her ears turning pinker and pinker with every second that his eyes lingered on her. It made him feel strangely satisfied.

"I have a proposition for you." he repeated, and he saw her coppery eyebrows scrunch together in suspicion. "Well? Get on with it, I haven't got all day."

"Patience, Weasley." he admonished. "You simply _can't_ rush brilliance."

"Don't flatter yourself," she snapped, turning to leave. "I've got better things to do than sit here and listen to your nonsensical ramblings. _Brilliance_, my arse."

A look of mild amusement crossed Scorpius' face. "I have never in my fifteen years heard _Rose Weasley _swear. I must have have witnessed a miracle."

She rolled her eyes, but made no motion to leave.

"Very well," Scorpius said, leaning closer. "I have a proposition for you-one that, if successful, will make anything in the world possible."

"Malfoy, you keep going on and on about this so-called brilliant proposition, but you _never tell me what the bloody hell it is!"_

"Ok, ok fine! Calm down a bit, it'll do your nerves some good. I propose that we befriend each other."

Rose stared at him for a minute. She calmly reached down and pinched her thigh through the thin fabric of her shorts. She proceeded to repeat the action a few times on separate limbs. Scorpius seemed to find the entire spectacle _very_ amusing.

"I assure you, this is not a dream, it is not too good to be true, as you may be thinking." Scorpius said with a smirk.

"Oh shut it, I'm actually in the midst of thinking this is my worst nightmare."

"Really? _I'm_ your worst nightmare? Wow."

"Don't flatter yourself."

"You already do it for me."

"Shut up, just shut up. Why would you want to be my friend anyhow?"

"It's not I _want_ to be your friend, it's a matter of..._necessity_, shall we say."

"Are you _using _me?"

"No! I'm not shallow, Weasley."

"I highly doubt that."

"Well...I have..._respect_ for...certain people. And you...might happen to be one of them."

A faint rose blush was seen on his cheeks. Rose stared unabashedly.

"Respect?" she echoed incredulously

"Well...yeah." and suddenly, he looked uncomfortable and awkward. Rose thought it was rather sweet.

"I mean, all the teachers love you-"

"-because of my parents-"

"-and you've got loads of friends-"

"-most of them don't know the first thing about me-"

"-and everyone seems to respect you-"

"-again, only because of my parents-"

"- and loads of blokes can't take their eyes off of you-"

"-because I'm the _only_ girl who's considered attractive, Merlin knows _why_-"

"-and-will you _stop_ interrupting me? Y'know, most girls would sit tight and giggle flirtatiously if their every quality was praised, not try and insult themselves."

"I'm not insulting myself! I'm politely trying to tell you you're absolutely _bonkers_! And what on _earth_ gave you the idea I'm included in the group wonderfully labelled as 'most girls'? "

"That's beside the point! Back to the matter at hand-the deal. Do you accept?"

"Why?"

"_Why_?"

"Yes, Malfoy, _why_. As in the second-to-last letter of the alphabet. Why should I suddenly become friends with you?"

"Good question. See, I'm sure you're very irritated with your family at the moment."

Rose was taken aback. "How would you know that?"

Scorpius smirked. "Your family is huge. Ten...eleven...twelve grandkids plus twelve adults gives you the grand total of twenty four relations. And that's not counting all the almost-Weasleys: the Longbottoms, the Scamanders, etc. Are there more?"

"You've forgotten Uncle Charlie." Rose responded. "I dunno...probably. Everyone brings over a friend or two over the holidays."

"Right, so with a family of epic proportions, you're bound to be upset with at least _someone_, at any given time, right?"

"Ri-ght." Rose agreed slowly, not sure where this was going.

"So. Befriend me, and use it as blackmail."

"What?"

"Every time something goes wrong, and you feel uncharacteristically splenetic, threaten to run away with me."

"They'll never buy it."

"Oh they will. Believe me, they will."

"And what's in it for you?"

He shook his head. "Merlin, for the brightest witch in our year, you sure are thick sometimes. It works both ways, you dimwit!"

Rose gave him a classic Weasley glare.

"Look, when my grandfather says something stupid about blood purity and all that rubbish, I'll threaten to run away with you."

Rose felt she should have been insulted by that, but wasn't really.

"Hopefully he'll have a heart attack and drop dead or something."

"Scorpius!"

"What? Honestly, some of the things he says...about your mum especially...Merlin..." he looked away.

"You've never met my mum. She could be a total bitch for all you know."

"I _know_ your mum isn't a total bitch. She couldn't have possibly launched all those safety procedures and saved the world and patented a hundred and forty charms and regulated international transportation procedures if she were that awful. The Wizengamot probably has her on speed dial. She practically _runs_ the Ministry."

"You're right, she's not a bitch. And how do you know what speed dial is? Isn't it considered disrespectful for a Malfoy to meddle with Muggle objects?"

"I happen to think they're fascinating. Another use for the Disillusionment Charm: hide personal possessions that may risk your inheritance."

Rose was stunned. She had no idea that the Malfoy her father had passionately warned her about would be this bloke: to whom she could talk to as easily as Al, who somehow shared a weird, twisted connection with her. Who tinkered with muggle objects in his free time, like Grandad Weasley. Who willingly sought her out. Suddenly, nothing was so clear or messed up as it had been before she had sat down here. And she didn't know what to think.

"So what do you say? Blackmail mates?" Scorpius asked, holding out his hand.

She shook it firmly. "Blackmail mates."

"Excellent, Weasley, see you around then." he said with a mock-salute.

"Oh please, we're _blackmail mates_. Honestly, drop the ridiculous formalities. It's _Rose_."


	2. James

** A/N: Erm...hi. Me again. Well, this kind of snowballed, I have never ever had such a positive response-every single one of you wanted another chapter! So this is it, I've incorporated a sort of ironic twist...see if you can find what it is... and happy reading!**

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><p>"You're senile! Senile! With a bloody capital C!" James screeched at his cousin from his broomstick, which was currently hovering five feet above the kitchen counter. Rose shook her head, making her curls bounce everywhere. "I'm sixteen, and nearly of age. I can do whatever the bloody hell I want. And senile is spelled with an "s" and means someone who is going insane because of age, not someone like me."<p>

"You clearly aren't in your right mind, Rose! It's bloody _dangerous!_" he said, brushing the tie wrapped around around his head away from his eyes.

"May I point out that I'm not the one _standing_ on my _very unstable_ broomstick, bare chested, with my school tie wrapped around my head five feet above the pie my mother slaved five hours for. Ruin it and she'll kill you, Jem."

"I know." he shrugged casually. "So I'm insane. And you just said you're less insane then I am, which doesn't automatically translate to sane. And don't call me Jem."

Rose stared at him. "Did I just hear something mildly intellectual come out of James Potter's mouth? I must have witnessed a miracle." The sardonic line brought back a pleasant memory from before, and she knew just what to do.

"James, if you tell my mum that I'm teaching myself to Apparate, I will make sure that they know about your drunken endeavors to enter the girls dorm."

"WHAT? I've never gotten sloshed in my_ life_-"

"-because that crate of firewhisky just evaporated, right?"

"Oh shut up. So fine, I might have snuck a crate or two out of Honeydukes. But I've never tried to get into the girls dorm!"

Rose smirked. "Who do you think they'll believe? Me or you?"

"Oh, you wench. You should've been sorted into Slytherin!"

"Stop being a drama queen. Honestly, Jem."

James swung down from the broom, hanging from his knees and stuck his tongue out at her. "I'll make sure they know about Scorpius Malfoy."

"_What?_"

"How you were found after dark that day by Al behind that Muggle ice cream shop, snogging the living daylights out of Malfoy."

"You wouldn't! What a _lie!_ I wasn't snogging him! I wasn't even _touching_ him!"

"Who do you think Uncle Ron'll believe? Me or you?"

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><p><strong>Did you find it? Lemme know in a review...<strong>

**~Rani**


	3. Violetta

"Scorpius, you _must_."

Scorpius sighed. He really, really, really, _really _didn't want to play kingdom with his spoiled brat of a cousin. Violetta Nott was the only child he knew who had her own house-elf, and exploited that privilege (and her thousands of others) on a daily basis.

"Viola, I'm sorry, but I've got work to do. Hogwarts has really piled on the work this year...and school starts really soon. I've got to be the top of my year."

Violetta pouted. "Don't call me Viola, I'm not a musical instrument. And I have waited all day for you to come home from Quidditch Camp! I simply _can't_ wait any longer. My new princess dress will positively _wilt_ if isn't worn soon. It's been a whole day since Mummy bought it." She stuck her lower lip out further than Scorpius thought a lower lip could go. He was sure a Pygmy Puff could bloody _sit_ on it. They simply weren't _meant_ to go that far-

"Scorpius Hyperion!" Violetta screeched, her voice getting higher. "Please! Mummy won't be pleased! She said she's worried about my socialization!" This was Phase Two-slightly hysterical and bringing her mum into everything. Phase One was looking cute and pouting. Phase Three would be-

"SCORPEEEUUUSSS!" Scorpius winced and covered his ears. He had learnt a lesson from last time and warded his room with several Silencing spells so his mum and aunt won't run up here every time Viola decided to throw a temper tantrum thinking he'd locked her in the closet or something.

Violetta ran to his bed and started pulling the covers off of it. She sat down on the comforter spread all over the floor and pulled off her pink patent-leather shoes. She then proceeded to stuff them into the fishbowl sitting innocently on his desk. He didn't bother to stop her because firstly, it would do absolutely _no _good; he had learnt from experience that the only way she would stop is when she would run out of steam. Secondly, the fishbowl was empty. Viola had chucked its inhabitant (whom Scorpius had affectionately dubbed 'Evan') into the toilet and flushed it down when Scorpius had refused to give her his Quidditch jersey.

Viola pulled his Ravenclaw pennant off the wall and ripped it in half with surprising strength for a girl that tiny. She reached for the array of photo frames on his desk and was about to throw them at him, but paused mid-grab, perfectly glossed mouth forming an O.

Scorpius raised an eyebrow from where he was seated at his desk, enjoying the destruction of his room. "Is something the matter, Viola?"

She turned to him slowly, dark curls bouncing. "You're in the same year as Rose Weasley, aren't you?"

Scorpius kept his cool. "Yeah, along with forty other kids, why?"

Viola slid down the bed and gave a sickly sweet smile. "Well, if you know what's good for you, you'll play kingdom with me."

Scorpius did not like where this was going. "And why in the name of Merlin would I do that?"

"Because if you don't, I'll tell Uncle Draco you're snogging her."

"Snogging who?" He decided to play dumb.

"Rose Weasley, you dolt!"

"But I'm not!"

"Ooh, look, Scorpy's blushing! I'd say you are, by the looks of it." she smirked.

Despite himself, he felt the blood rushing to his cheeks. "I'm not, I swear!"

"You're a horrid actor, Scorp."

"Viola-"

"Don't call me Viola!" Oh dear Merlin, not this again.

"Violetta, listen-"

But she didn't. She grinned a wicked little smile and snapped her fingers. "Pinky!"

A wizened little house elf appeared with a squeak. "Yes, miss?"

"Build me a castle with two towers. Use no less than a hundred pillows, and make sure they have actual curtains in them."

"Yes, miss." And she scurried off, collecting the necessary materials.

"Oh, and Pinky? Bring the prince costume from my costume trunk at home. The one with the tights and the doublet. Make sure you don't forget the cap, the one with the ostrich feather in it. And remember to bring the pointy-toed shoes."

Scorpius groaned and buried his face in his hands.


End file.
